Christmas Miracle
by Andriia
Summary: Jeff had a terrible car accident and since then he is acting like a 6-year old. Nick has already given up the hope that his best friend could ever become normal again. That is until one year later, Jeff starts to remember things again. (Reuploaded- Niffmas Advent Calendar 2012)
1. Chapter 1

_Believe it or not, but after nearly a year I reupload this story again- and I intend on finishing it as well. So last year, I got this prompt and wrote this One-Shot and I received so many requests to continue it, so I did- but then I stopped writing it. But now, nearly a year later, I am back. I rewrote it, **finished** it and every second day a new chapter will be uploaded until Christams Eve. I hope you enjoy the rewritten edition :) The first chapter kind of remained the same, but the others are completely new._  
><em>Enjoy, and only 22 days until Niffmas :D<em>

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><p>It was December 2nd and Nick sighed as he made his way up the drive to the home of his best friend. Fresh snow covered the ground of the Sterling residence and the dark-haired boy had to be careful not to slip and fall. Nick's hands were freezing. His breath was visible and he couldn't wait to get into the house and warm himself by the fireplace. He ringed the doorbell and waited for Jennifer Sterling- Jeffs' Mum- to open the door.<p>

"Nick!" She smiled and let the boy come in. "Thank you so much for watching after Jeff today."

"You're welcome Jennifer. You know I like to spend time with him whenever I can!" Mrs. Sterling nodded and grabbed a coat as her husband –Jack- came from the kitchen. "Hello Nick!" He flashed a smile and also took his coat. "Have a nice evening you two and thank you so much."

When Nick closed the door behind Mr. and Mrs. Sterling he heard noises from the living room.

"Jeffy!" Nick made his way to the room that was full of Christmas decoration and smiled as he saw his best friend sitting on the floor playing with a car. The blond boy looked up and his face lit up as he realized who was talking to him.

It always broke Nick's heart to see Jeff and still he tried to visit his best friend as often as possible. Dalton without Jeff was just not the same. Sure it was still fun with his friends but the most important one was missing- and that since a year now. Nick sat down next to Jeff and stroked the blonds' hair. Jeff giggled. He may look like a 17-year old boy but a terrible accident had caused him to act like a 6-year old again- and that curse would linger over him for the rest of his life.

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><p><em>It happened last year, one week before Christmas as he got a call from Jeff's mobile phone. "What's up buddy?" he asked joyfully, totally stuck in the spirit of Christmas. He remembered that he decorated the Christmas tree with red and blue balls to bring the spirit of Dalton to his home during holidays, when a stranger answered from Jeff's phone. "Nick Duval? You are mentioned in this phone as the number to call in case of emergency!" Nick felt his stomach clench. <em>

"_What happened?" He whispered the words in fear and forgot the Christmas decoration in his hand that dropped to the floor and broke into pieces._

"_Your friend had a car accident. He will be taken to the hospital in Lima. Can you please inform his parents?" Nick didn't respond anymore. All he could do was staring at the wall on the other side of the room and he felt the first tear running down his cheek. They didn't tell him in which conditions Jeff was but he could feel that it was bad._

_He didn't hesitate to call Jeffs' parents before driving to the hospital. When he arrived and asked about Jeff the nurse refused to give him any information. Nick screamed and begged but all he was told was to keep calm and take a seat. 'The doctors do their best to help your friend, Mr. Duval!' the nurse had said and gave him an annoyed look. It was when Jeff's parents arrived that he finally found out the truth about his friend. His head was hit really hard, he had several broken bones, bruises and he fell in a coma for over a week._

_When Jeff woke up again Nick believed in a Christmas miracle because the doctors hadn't give him a chance to survive. But Jeff wanted to live. He had been so strong for all his life and a stupid car accident couldn't take it away from him!_

_When he woke up everyone was with him- his parents, his grandparents, his aunts, his uncles and Nick. Some of them cried because of joy, others just prayed and thanked god for this miracle but it turned out that Jeffs' brain was heavily damaged. That's when he was stuck in the head of a 6-year old. He spoke but his vocabulary was the vocabulary of a young boy. He can pay attention but only for a short time. He can't go to school because he won't be able to learn things anymore. He can't write, he can't read and most importantly, he was going to stay like this forever._

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><p>Already a year went by since the accident. Jack and Jennifer took Jeff from Dalton and he lived with them at home. Nick tried to visit his best friend as much as possible. He came by every second weekend and in the holidays and sometimes he took care of his best friend when his parents needed a relaxing evening during the week as well.<p>

"What are we going to do, Jeffy?" Nick sat down next to Jeff who didn't pay attention to his former best friend. The car seemed way more important to him and Nick flashed a sad smile. After some minutes the car lost its importance though and he grabbed Nick's hand. He giggled for no reason and Nick couldn't stop a tear running down his face.

"You sad!" Jeff stuttered and wiped Nicks' tears away. "Not cry Nick!"

Nick wrapped his arms around Jeff and started to whimper. "I miss you so much, Jeff! I miss your pranks, I miss you as my roommate in Dalton and I miss your laugh, your smile and how you always seem to get out of trouble!"

Jeff blinked at Nick in surprise and Nick immediately wanted to slap himself. Why did he have to be so emotional in front of Jeff? It was not like the blond would understand.

"Dalton!" Jeff mumbled and pointed at Nick's blazer. The shorter boy still hadn't changed out of his school uniform. Nick watched Jeff in surprise. From where did he know that this was the blazer of Dalton, if he couldn't remember anything at all?

It was when Jeff started humming 'Uptown Girl', the song Nick got the lead in last school year only a few months before the terrible accident happened that Nick's jaw dropped.

"That can't be possible!" Nick murmured as Jeff hummed. Nick pulled out his mobile phone and searched for a picture. When he found it he showed it to Jeff, who immediately started humming the melody of 'Animals'. Nick gasped. The picture had shown the Warblers performing the song and Jeff seemed to know it.

"Do you know this person?" Nick showed Jeff another picture and the blond boy nodded excited. For him this seemed to be a funny game and every time Nick looked at him in surprise, it made him giggle.

"Blaine!" Jeff tilted his head and clapped his hands, enjoying Nick's confusion.

"You remember it!" Nick gaped at him.

"No crying again, three!" It where this simple four words that made Nick start crying even more and hugging Jeff as tight as he could. Jeff never called Nick 'three' since he lost his memory and acted like a 6-year old. How could he remember? Was there hope for him?

Nick looked at the Christmas tree and couldn't stop thinking if this was a miracle. Maybe there was hope for Jeff after all. Maybe he could get his best friend back.

"I love you six!" Nick mumbled and inhaled the familiar scent of his best friend while he held him close. Jeff giggled.


	2. Chapter 2

"And he laughed and recognized stuff that he shouldn't be able to recognize, Trent!"

Nick was head over heels the next day- a Monday, which was usually the worst day of the week for him- at school, telling everyone about the previous night and how they kept the gaming going for hours. Jeff didn't seem to be bored for one second and Nick was so excited that he nearly forgot when it was time for dinner to make for the other boy. That was one of the many disadvantages Jeffs' mental state of mind brought along with it: the blond wasn't able to do one thing on his own, not even eat. He could drink himself, but mostly it ended up with him spilling juice all over himself and if no one would remind him, he'd probably go without drinking until his kidneys would give up.

"Nick!" Trent tried to calm his friend down, as they made their way to Warblers practice. "Don't get your hopes up too high, mate!"

"But he can _remember_ Trent. There's a chance of him getting back to normal again. Don't you understand that?"

"But that would be a miracle Nick, and such things just don't happen!"

Nick huffed. "Just because you don't believe in magic doesn't mean that I don't believe in it!"

Trent just shrugged it off. For him it was obvious that Jeff would never be his old self again. Things like that just didn't happen and in the end they'd only leave Nick heartbroken over his best friend again, but what was he supposed to do? The other boy was obviously too headstrong to accept it.

They pushed open the heavy doors to the practice room, where most of the Warblers were already gathered together and silently chatting with each other about how their weekends had been.

Warbler practice started as soon as Hunter entered the room. It was hard- like always- but Nick loved it. On the one hand the routines helped him to clear his head but on the other hand it was where Jeff felt most present and sometimes he even imagined that he just saw his best friend hop on the couch.

As always time passed so quickly that Nick was surprised when Hunter closed practice and told them to have a nice afternoon. He was approached quickly by Sebastian who snatched a glance at Hunter when passing.

"You know he's not even remotely bi-curious, right?"

Sebastian snarled. "It's a shame, isn't it? Don't worry though; I'm determined to change that." He smirked mischievously.

"What do you want Sebastian?"  
>"The other Warblers and I are heading to the lake. It's frozen already. We wondered if you'd want to join us."<p>

_Laughter filled the air. There were lots of people on the frozen lake, enjoying a good time._

_It was Nicks' and Jeff's first winter at Dalton and most of the boys that stayed there over the weekend had decided to go ice-skating._

_Nick didn't like that thought at all and if it wasn't for a way too excited blond boy bouncing up and down next to him, he'd be in his dorm right now, reading a good book or studying for his biology test._

_He glanced at the frozen lake worriedly. The thought that he'd stand in the middle of it gave him chills because this was ice and it could break and today wasn't a good day to drown. Despite that he didn't even know how to ice-skate but Jeff was determined to each him and Wes had organized a pair of shoes for him because he was Wes and it was his duty to take care of the young Warblers- and in this case, find them a pair of fitting ice skates._

_In other words Nick didn't have a chance to escape._

_It already took him 15 minutes to get into the shoes with Jeffs' help and as soon as he stood up, his knees wobbled dangerously._

_He had to steady himself with the help of his friend and when he stepped onto the ice, his right foot slipped away immediately and he fell to the ground, bringing Jeff down with him._

_While he looked frustrated and wanted to give up already, Jeff just laughed. "Have patience Nicky! We'll get there but ice-skating is a bit tricky and no one can be good at something right from the start."_

_And he was right- slowly they got there. In the beginning Nick would fall on regular bases and everything hurt already but Jeff helped him up every single time and held him by his hands, guiding him over the ice as safely as possible, encouraging him._

_After a while when he made it the first few feet on his own, ice- skating felt like the best feeling in the world to him._

_But just like other teenage boys, Nick got risky soon and wanted to slide all by himself- which then ended with him and Jeff in the hospital and a broken left arm and a guilty looking Jeff. But still it was one of the best days Nick remembered having with Jeff._

Sebastian cleared his throat, still waiting for Nicks' answer. "So you'll join us or not?"  
>"No thanks!" Nick answered quietly and gulped. "I think I'll pass this time."<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

_I'm sorry that I haven't updated last night like I was supposed to, but let's say I kind of had an emotional breakdown. But here's the chapter that was supposed to be up yesterday and the next one will be up by tomorrow. Also I want to thank you guys for the comments and all the story followers! _And can I just tell you how I absolutely missed writing Niff during the last months? Like seriously, best ship ever to write about. I love it and I should definitely do it more often again!_ :) Enjoy! :) x_

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><p>„Hey Jeffy! How are you doing?" Nick asked and ruffled through the blond hair of his friend. Of course he didn't get an answer- it wasn't like he had expected one- though what he got was a small giggle from him.<p>

Nick took a seat next to him and watched as his mother fed him dinner.

"I'm surprised you stopped by during the week Nick, but it's always nice to see you!" She smiled at him before taking a napkin and gently whipping away some sauce that had gone on Jeffs' chin. "What has brought you here anyway?"

It was true, he wasn't often seen in the Sterling household during the week simply because of the fact that it took one and a half hours to go there and he had to go back to the dorms again as well.

He shrugged his shoulders as he watched Jeff happily chew on, not in the least interested in their conversation. It wasn't like he could say that he missed Jeff even more as soon as the lake was mentioned in a conversation.

Jeff started to make noises of disgust as Jennifer tried to feed him again. He turned his head to the side, shaking it slightly, and the blond fringe fell into his brown eyes.

"Okay, I think that's it for today!" Jennifer sighed. She left the table with the plate and the leftovers on it. "He's been very moody today. Maybe you can cheer him up a bit."

Nick nodded before helping Jeff up and guiding him to his room. "What's wrong with you mate?" he asked worriedly as he helped him sit down on his bed. Jeff just spaced out, not answering or moving at all. It was something rare for him to not make himself noticeable to others because usually he just needed a lot of attention.

"Hey buddy! Look at me. What's wrong?" Nick kneeled down in front of his friend and took both of his hands in his. He didn't like to see Jeff this way.

The boy took his right hand out of Nicks' before tugging on his blazer. He still hadn't changed out of it after school because he just didn't feel like the need to do so. The dark-haired boy frowned. "I don't understand what you want to tell me, Jeffy!"

Jeff tugged harder on it in frustration.

Nic k frowned. "Do you want a blazer as well?"

An excited squeal came from Jeff who clapped his hands together. Nick shot up and went to his closet, searching through it. Since Jeff hadn't worn his blazer for a year now, he had to dig deep to actually find it but in the end he did and helped Jeff into it. "Well don't you look dashing?" he asked laughing as Jeff looked at himself, sitting on the floor in front of the tall mirror now.

"You know" Nick sometimes continued, well aware of the fact that he was more talking to himself than to Jeff. "Sometimes I wonder if you remember the times we had at Dalton because they sure are something to remember." Jeff didn't answer.

_Nicks' hands were shaking as he tried to knot his red and blue striped tie for the fifth time of the morning now. He never got it right. Ones it was too short, another time too long and then he wasn't even able to do a knot anymore. His cheeks were already crimson red out of embarrassment as he glanced at his blond roommate- Jeff- who was already completely dressed and fixed his hair. He for sure must have thought that Nick was an idiot by now, not even being able to tie a tie but in reality Nick _knew_ how to do it- hell he even practiced it a thousand times at home in front of his mirror- but his nerves got the best of him. So here he was, his first day at Dalton hadn't even officially started and he already wanted to break down crying and hide under his blankets._

"_You need help with that?" a very amused voice asked him and before he could answer Jeff already approached him and batted his hands away._

_Nick frowned. "I know how to tie it but somehow I just don't get it right at the moment. You must think I'm an idiot!"_

_Jeff laughed heartedly. "Just because you have problems with your tie doesn't make you an idiot. You're nervous, I get it, and so am I. Five minutes ago my hands were shaking so bad that I wasn't even able to tie my shoes but now I'm okay."_

"_How did you overcome it?" Nick asked curiously. He wanted to be calm as well but meeting a lot of new people was tough for him. _

"_I just thought about the fact that I now have a roommate that I think I will be able to get along with pretty well and that's the most important thing." Jeff smiled at him warm-heartedly and Nick returned it shyly but even that thought didn't calm his nerves at all._

"_But what if they don't like me?" _

_The blond boy took his hand in his own and squeezed it reassuringly. "Nick, Dalton has a no-bullying policy. It can happen that people won't like you, but they won't hurt you. And I'm pretty sure that not every single student at Dalton will hate you, you are a pretty loveable person."_

_Nick didn't know how to respond to that so he just shut up and hoped that Jeff didn't notice that his cheeks were now tinted in a even redder shade._

_Only a few hours later Nick could have laughed about his earlier reaction. He was surrounded by a bunch of other freshmen at a dining table and made easy conversations with them. Sometimes he looked over the table to lock his eyes with Jeff who grinned at him before continuing to talk to this boy, Blaine- that's how he had introduced himself. But Nick would probably stick with hobbit, because that was the first thing that rushed through his mind when he spotted him._

_That night Nick lay in his new bed and stared at the dark ceiling, hands behind his head and deep in thoughts. He heard the rustling of bed sheets and didn't pay too much attention to it until Jeff started to speak. "I guess you can't sleep either."_

_Nick shook his head, which went unnoticed by his roommate though. "There's too much on my mind to be able to fall back asleep."  
>"Hm." Jeff agreed. "You know, I think Dalton will be a really good time. People here are awesome, especially that Blaine kid. Did you know that he's gay? Maybe you two should go out on a date sometime, I mean only if he's your type."<em>

_Nicks' breath hitched and he started coughing, not sure if he actually heard Jeff right. "W-What?" The terrifying thought that Jeff already figured out his sexuality settled in his stomach and made him feel sick. _

"_Come on Nick, it's pretty obvious. It's okay if you don't want me to know, then I'll just pretend like I never knew about it. And if you find me attractive then you don't have to be ashamed, I'll take it as a compliment."_

"_Oh god!" Nick groaned and buried his face in the pillow._

"_I take that as a yes, so thank you. That's why you are at Dalton, isn't it?"_

"_To be honest I'd rather not talk about it." _

_He heard Jeff shift again and seconds later he felt a hand rubbing his back soothingly. Out of instinct he flinched, expecting it to be a harsh touch just like it always was at school._

"_That's alright Nick and I promise I won't tell anyone but if you ever need to talk with someone about it, you can always come to me." _

_That night ended in hugs and tears on Nicks' side and the strongest friendship bond that he had ever experienced in his life._


End file.
